Remote Sensing of Wetland Types: Sea Grasses

Abstract

Sea grasses are characteristic of coastal waters and play an important role in sustaining biodiversity and also facilitate uptake and storage of carbon. These grasses largely occur in shallow waters that are often clear. Hence, mapping can be achieved using optical remote sensing data with the intricacies of sea grass beds best observed at higher spatial resolutions. Hyperspectral data are especially useful as these can be used to better differentiate sea grass species and productivity types and also facilitate better discrimination from other subsurface environments. Acoustic methods (e.g., SONAR) have also been used and provide additional information on the structure of sea grasses and the underlying topography. Remote sensing data can also be used to indicate human-induced disturbance.